Machine for cutting potatoes or like objects into chips or slices



March 20, 1951 G J ABBOTT 2,545,729

MACHINE FOR CUT'TING POTATOES 0R LIKE OBJECTS INTO CHIPS OR SLICES FiledSept. 9, 1948 s Sheets-Sheet l Inventor Attorney arch 20, 1951' J.ABBOTT 2,545,729

MACHINE FOR CUTTING POTATOES OR LIKE OBJECTS INTO CHIPS OR SLICES FiledSept. 9, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvenlor Geo/fray I Aofi Attorney March20, 1951 G J ABBOTT 2,545,720

MACHINE FOR CUTTINGPOTATOES 0R LIKE OBJECTS INTO CHIPS 0R SLICES FiledSept. 9, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 In venior fig-e I 4 5607% MM z PatentedMar. 20, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING POTATOES on LIKE OBJECTS INTO CHIPS on sL-Ions v,Geoffrey josphAbbott, Carshalton, Enema Application September 9, 19'48,serial No. 48,386

In Great Britain October 6, 1947 4 Claims. (01. 146 -78) 1 Thisinvention relates to machines for cutting potatoes or like objects-(hereinafter called potatoes) into chips or slices; of the kind inwhich the potato, or the part thereof to be sliced, is passedbetween anumber of approximately parallel slitting knives which thus slit itlongitudinally, and then into engagement with a slicingknife whichslices off the previously slit portion of the potato; Forconveniencesuch machines will be referred to herein as slicing machines.v H In such slicing machines the slitting and she ing knives are usuallysupported from thecircumferential .wallof a casing in which rotates arotorhaving at least one channel-like passage or throat ofconvergingcrosssection formed between it and the circumferential wall of thecasing so that potatoes which enter this throat through its open largerend during rotation of the rotor,- are carried round by the rotor incontact with the circumferential wall of the easing into engagement withthe slitting and slicing knives. One example of such a machine isdescribed in the specification of British Patent No. 379,800 whilecertain improvements, whichmay also be incorporated in machinesaceor'dingto the present invention, form the subject of United e, l l Ais in effect a triggering movement which releases States patentapplications 765,353 of 1946',

and 765,354 or 1 94;; whichbcarlie Patent No. 2,485,3 4=4= 0n October1-8; 1949.

in slicing machines of the kind referred to the 1 knives are apt to bedamaged by stones or other hard foreign objects which are not alwaysabstracted from the potatoes before entering the machine while in somecases such stories may jam the rotor and cause damage to other parts oft m n Theobject of the present invention is to provide a slicing machineof thekind referred to ir'icorporating means which willtend to minimiseoij eliminate damage to the knives or other parts of the machine due tothe presence of stones or like hard foreign bodies in or amongst thepotatoes being sliced.

Ina slicing machine of the kind referred to accordingto the presentinvention the slittin knives are so movahly mounted that while they arenormally heldin their operative positions against the normal forces dueto their slittingaction, they are yet capable of yielding indivi duallyor as abody to permit each knife to move partially'or wholly out of itsoperative position under the action ot a stone or other hard foreignbody which may be carried into engagement therewith by a potato beingsliced.

" constituted by a dooror cover hinged to the cats:

2' v The term operative position is to be under stood as meaning thenormal position in the path of the potatoes being sliced.

In a preferred arrangement the initial movement of the slitting knivesor of each slitting knife releases spring operated mechanism which.

on release acts on the slitting knife or knives to move it or themrapidly into a position out of the path of the potato being sliced. Thusthe initial movement of the slitting knife of knives mechanism foreffecting the remainder of the mcvement with a snap action.

In one such arrangement the spring operated mechanism includes a springpressed part which normally acts on' a surface on a sliding knifesupport such that exerts little or no for'ol thereon in the direction inwhich the supp'oftis capable of yielding, but which moves; during the,initial movement of the slitting support under the action are stone ontoa surreees cn that it eXertsa-n appreiame force on the s'littifi knifesupport" ttie diictioh in which it capable of yielding"; c

.In any case the initial movement of the sinting knife supportpreferably releases spring. perates mec amsiiirer moving the name out ofthe path of the potato being sliced so to prevent its being engagedpyjmy stone or? the like menvaefis n a slitting knife.

For exampie the slicing knife may be ifiofiiitd upon a pivotedshpp'ciii';- acted upon by one of more springs nonnany tending to m ev'etli port SO as to ca ry tli sl icing knife O'iit of the path of the:potatoes being sliced, and Catch mechanism Etvvfi tfi Slidifig knife suport and a slitting; knife sinne s which is ailtdlfia cally released bythe initial movement of slitting knife. Sfififioit and releases the SH Aknife Sh'ppoft. STICK anarr'angemenq the sliding knife supponeqnvenrenuyactsdire'tly or indirectly on the sllttln" Knife support or sup ports tocarry the slitting kn ves Gilt of tli' path of the potato Being slicedso that the" slicing knife support and its spring 01'' springsconstitutes me spring operated mechanism referred to hape which,uponrele'ase by the initial movement of a slitting linif, reeves" thisslitting nives out of the path or the estate be g1 sliced. in such anarrangement" tfi sl idifig knife support may 5e? ing' 0f the macinfne atth' end remote from the sliding" kfiif While the catch has as: sociatdwith it a stop which fioi'liiall'ylifiiits tlii 'movenreswf the" cover;recess of theeaten abmzo 3 mechanism, to that necessary to carry theslicing knife out of the path of the potato being sliced but can at willbe moved to permit the cover to be opened completely to give access tothe interior of the casing for inspection or cleaning.

In any case in a machine according to the present invention the slittingknives are preferably held in their'normal operative positions by one ormore springswhich are adjustable to vary the force required to causethem to yield under the action of a stone or the like, although aweight, also preferably adjustable, may be provided for. this purpose,or a combination of weight and spring or springs might be employed.

The invention may be carried into practice in various ways but oneconstruction according to the invention incorporating also theinventions forming the subject of United States patent applications No.765,353 of 1946 and No. 765,354 of 1946, which becamePatent No.2,485,344 on October 18, 1949, is illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly insection of'the complete machine,

- Figure 2 is an enlarged view similar to Figure 1 showing the parts ofthe machine to which the present invention is applied, in their normaloperative position,

Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2 showing the parts of the machinein an inoperative position permitting access to the interior of themachine, and

Figures 1 and are enlarged views of certain parts of the machine.

In the construction illustrated in the drawings the machine comprises agenerally cylindrical casing A containing a rotor B arranged to bedriven by an electric motor C. The casing A has an opening thereinextending around nearly half its circumference and normallysubstantially closed by a hinged cover plate Al pivoted to the casing Aat A2. The cover plate Al has secured to its upper" edge a slicing knifeD and its normal positionis such, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, that thisslicing knife lies somewhat nearer'to the axisof the rotor than doesthe.internal circumfer'ential surface of the casing A and close to thecircumferential surface of the rotor B. Thus there is a circumferentialspace of appreciable radial dimensions between the outer surface of therotor B and the inner surface of the casing 'A butthecover plate A! overmost of its area lies close to the rotor B as does the slicing knife D.

Secured to the cover plate Al is a transverse leaf spring A3 the ends ofwhich, when the cover plate is in its normal position as shown inFigtires 1 and 2 engage and press on the circumferential edges of theend walls A4 of the casing A so as to tend to move the cover plate Aloutwards towards the position shown in Figure 3.

f Formed on the upper end of the cover plate Al aretwo similarextensions E, one on each side, each of which is in the form of an armwhich carries near its end and projecting from one face a pinEl having aroller E2 mounted on it. Each extension E with its pin El and roller E2cooperates with mechanism hereinafter described to hold the cover plateAl normally in the position shown in Figures '1 and 2 against the actionof the spring A3.

, Pivotally mounted on the casing A at F is a member Fl combining thefunction of a support for the slitting knives and a retaining member forholding the cover plate Al normally in the positiori'sho'wn' in Figures"1 and 2. The member Fl has an outer wall F2 from which project radiallyinwardly a number of pivot pins G, on each of which is freely pivoted aslitting knife holder GI to which is rigidly attached a slitting knifeG2 by means of two hook like parts G3 pressed out of the support GI andpassing through slots in the knife G2 as shown most clearly in Figure 5.Each of the knife supports Gl'is freelto swing about its pivot but. thisswinging movement is limited by a stop plate G4 secured to the member Fland having slots therein in which the free ends of the supports Gl lieso that their free movementis limited by the ends of the slots.

Projecting inwardly from the outer wall F2 of the member Fl are twosimilar webs F3 each of the formshown most clearly in Figure 4 providedwith a cam slot F4 formed for engagement by the roller E2 when the partsare in their normal operative positions.

rollers E2 lie in the end portions F! of the cam slots F4 which are soformed that in this position the force exerted by the rollers on themember Fl due to the force of the spring A3 is radial or nearly radialto the pivot F and hence there is little or no tendency for the memberFl to be rocked upwardly about its pivot. In addition the engagementbetween the notch H2 of the latch member H and the catch member H3 underthe action of the spring I-Il resists such pivotal movement of themember Fl. The parts are thus retained in the position shown in Figures1 and 2.

'The rotor B is of the form described in thespecification of Unitedgta-tes patent application No. 765,353 of 1946 or No.- 765,354 of--1946and thus has throats Bl into which the potatoesto be sliced find theirway, and devices indicated at B2 and B3 for carrying the-last pieces ofpotato through the slitting andsli'cing knives in a manner which willnot be further described since it -is well known and in itself it formsno part of the present invention.

In the construction according to the present invention shown in thedrawings, the force of the spring HI and the slope of the cooperatingsurfaces of the notch H2 and the catch member, H3

are such that the force exerted through the slitting knives G2 on themember'Fl by potatoes being forced past the slitting knives and slitthereby will be insufficient to cause the notch H2 and catch member H3to be forced out of en:

gagement with one another. If. and when, how-; ever, a stone or otherhard substance is, carried round by the rotor and comes into engagementwith one or more of the slitting knives, the outward force thus appliedto these is sufiicient to force the member Fl outwards against theretaining force of'the members H and H3 and thus to release the latchmember H from the catch member H8. The consequent small outward movementof the member Fl permits the rollers E2 to pass round the parts F8 ofthe cam slots F4 so that the rollers exert atangential force on themember Fl and thuslift'this member rapidly. Thus the slitting'knives' G2and slicing knifeD o are moved outwards with a snap action so as to liecompletely outside the circle represented by the inner surface of thecasing A.

It will thus be seen that the initial movement of the member Fl due tothe action of a' stone or the like on a slitting kmfe acts in effect asa triggering movement enabling the spring A3 to come into effectiveaction to move the slitting and slicing knives into their inoperativepositions.

The automatic outward movement of the member Fl and the cover plate Alcaused by a stone striking one of the slitting knives referred 'to abovewill be limited by the roller E2 coming into contact with the end wallF5 of the member Fl, but in order to enable the interior'of the casing Ato be readily inspected or cleared and any foreign body therein readilyremoved, the member Fl can be swung by hand into the position indicatedin Figure 3 so as to permit the cover plate Al to be swung outwards asfar as may be desired.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for slicing potatoes and like articles comprising asubstantially cylindrical casing having an exit slot in itscircumferential wall. a slicing knife forming one boundary of the exitslot, a movable support for the slicing knife, a-

rotor within the casing for carrying potatoes or like articles aroundthe casing in contact with the inner surface of its circumferentialwall, a slitting knife support pivoted to the casing, a plurality ofslitting knives carried by the slitting knife support in advance of theexit opening and slicing knife and, when the slitting knife support isin its operative position projecting into the casing, yielding means fornormally holding the slitting knife support and the slicing knifesupport in their operative positions in which they project into theinterior of the casing but capable of yielding when a slitting knife isstruck by a stone or other hard object, and an operative connectionbetween the slicing knife support and the slitting knife support tocause the slicing knife and slitting knives both to be moved from theinterior of the casing when a slitting 'knife is struck by a stone orlike hard object.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the slicing knife supportwhen in its operative 50 position is acted upon by a spring tending tomove the slicing knife out of the interior of the casing, and theslicing knife support acts on the slitting knife support under theaction of such spring in a direction tending to move the slitting knivesout of the interior of the casing, holding mechanism being provided forholding theslicing and slitting knife supports in their operativepositions against the action of the spring during slicing and slittingoperations, and yielding means which yield to permit release of theholding mechanism when a stone or like hard article strikes a slittingknife and moves the slitting knife support.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the slicing knife support ispivoted to the casing at the end remote from the slicing knife and has aprojection at the end adjacent to the slicing knife which engages a camsurface on the slitting knife support having a part which, when theslicing and slitting knife supports are in their operative positions, isengaged by the projection and lies substantially at right angles to thedirection in which the slittingknife support can move, and a part whichis inclined to such direc-- tion and onto which the projectionautomatically moves on the initial movement of the slitting knifesupport under the action of a stone or like hard article.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 3 in which the yielding means fornormally holding the slitting knife support comprises spring pressedcatch mechanism which retains the slitting knife support in itsoperative position against forces applied thereto during normal slittingoperations but is automatically released by the force exerted thereonwhen a slitting knife strikes a stone or like hard article.

GEOFFREY JOSEPH ABBOTT- REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

,UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,004,548 Abbott June 11, 19352,187,957 Urschel Jan. 23, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date530,130 Great Britain Dec. 5, 1940

